Dental appliance with simulated teeth and method for making
First Claim
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1. A dental positioning device configured to provide an altered appearance to a patient'"'"'s teeth when worn by the patient, the device comprising:
- a removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having teeth receiving cavities shaped to directly receive at least some of the patient'"'"'s teeth and apply a resilient positioning force to move the patient'"'"'s teeth towards a first planned arrangement of an orthodontic treatment, the appliance comprising a component spanning a portion of an arch of the patient'"'"'s teeth and having an outer surface and further configured to mask the patient'"'"'s teeth while visually depicting the patient'"'"'s teeth in a second planned arrangement from the orthodontic treatment, wherein the orthodontic treatment comprises one or more planned intermediate tooth arrangements and a planned final tooth arrangement, the planned intermediate tooth arrangements designed to incrementally move the patient'"'"'s teeth from an initial arrangement towards the planned final arrangement, the first planned arrangement is one of the one or more planned intermediate arrangements and the second planned arrangement is a different planned intermediate arrangement or the planned final arrangement.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to orthodontic positioning appliances that represent teeth in desired positions and related systems and methods. An appliance can include teeth receiving cavities shaped to receive and apply a resilient positioning force to a patient'"'"'s teeth. An appliance can include an outer component having a surface representing teeth in desired positions. An outer component can be integral with an appliance. An outer component can be separate and configured to couple with an appliance main body.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A dental positioning device configured to provide an altered appearance to a patient'"'"'s teeth when worn by the patient, the device comprising:
a removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having teeth receiving cavities shaped to directly receive at least some of the patient'"'"'s teeth and apply a resilient positioning force to move the patient'"'"'s teeth towards a first planned arrangement of an orthodontic treatment, the appliance comprising a component spanning a portion of an arch of the patient'"'"'s teeth and having an outer surface and further configured to mask the patient'"'"'s teeth while visually depicting the patient'"'"'s teeth in a second planned arrangement from the orthodontic treatment, wherein the orthodontic treatment comprises one or more planned intermediate tooth arrangements and a planned final tooth arrangement, the planned intermediate tooth arrangements designed to incrementally move the patient'"'"'s teeth from an initial arrangement towards the planned final arrangement, the first planned arrangement is one of the one or more planned intermediate arrangements and the second planned arrangement is a different planned intermediate arrangement or the planned final arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for orthodontically treating a patient'"'"'s teeth, comprising:
a plurality of orthodontic tooth positioning appliances for a patient'"'"'s teeth, each appliance of the plurality having different teeth receiving cavities shaped to directly receive at least some of the patient'"'"'s teeth and resiliently reposition the patient'"'"'s teeth from a first arrangement to a successive planned arrangement from an orthodontic treatment, at least one appliance further comprising a component spanning a portion of an arch of the patient'"'"'s teeth and having an outer surface and further configured to mask the patient'"'"'s teeth while visually depicting the patient'"'"'s teeth in a second planned arrangement from the orthodontic treatment, wherein the orthodontic treatment comprises one or more planned intermediate tooth arrangements and a planned final tooth arrangement, the planned intermediate tooth arrangements designed to incrementally move the patient'"'"'s teeth from an initial arrangement towards the planned final arrangement, the successive planned arrangement is one of the one or more planned intermediate arrangements and the second planned arrangement is a different planned intermediate arrangement or the planned final arrangement. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A kit for moving teeth that presents an appearance of teeth in desired positions comprising:
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two or more orthodontic tooth positioning appliances, each appliance having different teeth receiving cavities shaped to directly receive at least some of the patient'"'"'s teeth and resiliently reposition the patient'"'"'s teeth from a first arrangement to a successive planned arrangement from an orthodontic treatment; and an outer component having a surface masking the patient'"'"'s teeth while visually depicting the patient'"'"'s teeth in a second planned arrangement from the orthodontic treatment, wherein the outer component couples with at least one of the appliances and spans a portion of an arch defined by the patient'"'"'s teeth, and wherein the orthodontic treatment comprises one or more planned intermediate tooth arrangements and a planned final tooth arrangement, the planned intermediate tooth arrangements designed to incrementally move the patient'"'"'s teeth from an initial arrangement towards the planned final arrangement, the successive planned arrangement is one of the one or more planned intermediate arrangements and the second planned arrangement is a different planned intermediate arrangement or the planned final arrangement.
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25. A dental positioning device configured to provide an altered appearance to a patient'"'"'s teeth when worn by the patient, the device comprising:
a removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having teeth receiving cavities shaped to directly receive at least some of the patient'"'"'s teeth and apply a resilient positioning force to move the patient'"'"'s teeth towards a first planned arrangement of an orthodontic treatment, the appliance comprising a component spanning a portion of an arch of the patient'"'"'s teeth and having an outer surface, the component configured to mask the patient'"'"'s teeth while visually depicting the patient'"'"'s teeth in a second planned arrangement from the orthodontic treatment, and the component comprising either a portion integral to the appliance or a separate outer component configured to couple to the appliance, wherein the orthodontic treatment comprises one or more planned intermediate tooth arrangements and a planned final tooth arrangement, the planned intermediate tooth arrangements designed to incrementally move the patient'"'"'s teeth from an initial arrangement towards the planned final arrangement, the first planned arrangement is one of the planned intermediate arrangements and the second planned arrangement is a different planned intermediate arrangement or the planned final arrangement.
Specification